Skinny Dip
by dendriticgold
Summary: Two-shot. AU within the 2012 Christmas Special (POTENTIAL SPOILERS!). After their success in the County Fair Tom Branson, Thomas Barrow, Alfred Nugent and Jimmy Kent find themselves tipsy and by the ornamental pond at Downton Abbey...
1. Chapter 1

**Skinny Dip – Chapter 1**

Anyone watching the four young men of Downton Abbey during the immediate aftermath of the County Fair tug-of-war could be forgiven for thinking that they were united by a firm friendship as much as their shared loyalty to Downton itself. During the drinks and handshakes that followed their euphoria at winning, it would have taken a very observant person indeed to spot the undercurrents of tension.

As it was, Jimmy's pointed avoidance of Thomas amid the maelstrom of congratulations went unnoticed even by Alfred, who had been monitoring the situation between them with concern ever since they had set out from Downton that morning. And the moment where Thomas's pleasure at the congratulatory hug offered by Branson turned into surprise and disdain was carefully hidden behind the celebratory drink he quickly brought to his lips.

Aside from a brief heated exchange, during which Jimmy (flush with exaggerated pride at the exertion of the competition, and conscious of the winnings burning a hole in his pocket) refused point blank to accept a drink bought by Thomas, the rest of the fair passed without incident. The four men were able to obtain a pleasant level of tipsiness as they sat in the shade of the carousel, pints in hand, as the afternoon wore on.

When Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore collected together the other attendees and suggested the men join them for a bite to eat in the buffet tent, all four of them were unanimous on the decision that they actually would be better off taking a bit of a wander. Branson was grudgingly forced to concede to Mrs Hughes, with sincere apologies, that he was very nearly too drunk to walk in a straight line, let alone drive.

She acquiesced to the suggestion that Thomas, Branson, Alfred and Jimmy would begin to head back in the direction of Downton immediately, with herself and the others to follow on later, and that the wagonette would just have to remain in the town until the following day.

Jimmy and Alfred wound up walking side by side, Jimmy having ploughed purposefully down the road as soon as the proposed walk was agreed and Alfred easily catching him up, taking a single long-legged stride to each two of Jimmy's.

Branson and Thomas fell into step a small distance behind them, Branson reveling easily in the illusion of camaraderie between the four of them as they made their way back to Downton while Thomas's easy expression concealed a slightly darker mood.

Nevertheless, in the late afternoon sunshine amid the gorgeous colors of the summery Yorkshire landscape, Thomas did feel a weight lifting from his shoulders and for a few stolen moments actually felt at peace in his present company. He and Branson remained largely silent throughout the long walk as Jimmy and Alfred spoke in animated tones with one another up ahead.

Without the need to confer on the matter, Alfred and Jimmy led them along the more meandering route of the garden pathway when they eventually reached the Downton grounds rather than taking the more direct route down the driveway. The four men didn't need to exchange words to know that they were all appreciating the glorious afternoon.

Thomas reveled in the warmth of the sunlight, even going so far as to remove his hat to allow the rays to play across his face. He looked over at the majesty of the Abbey and allowed himself to indulge in a wave of pride at belonging to such a place, although, even with everything that had happened, he would never actually give voice to such sentiments.

His pleasant train of thought ground to a screeching halt when he directed his gaze back to watch the footpath ahead…his eyes coming to rest on the figure of Jimmy.

'I'm thinking the same as you.' Branson's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts.

Thomas jumped slightly, immediately removed his eyes from Jimmy's neck, and tried to cultivate a distinctly un-flapped air as he answered. 'I sincerely doubt that Mr Branson.'

'You know very well that it's 'Tom'.' Said Branson, setting his jaw in discomfort. 'Even if you must insist on being 'Mr Barrow'.' He continued a little reproachfully.

Momentarily distracted by a laugh from the golden haired man up ahead, in response to a joke from Alfred that hadn't reached his own ears, Thomas eventually relented and gave a slight nod to Branson. ''Thomas' is acceptable.' He said quietly. 'Besides…' Thomas continued in a cautiously teasing voice. '…I suppose tugging together does qualify as something of a bonding experience.' He couldn't help but smile to himself at the memory of the spontaneous hug after the competition; it had been a welcome change from endeavoring to keep at arm's length from the rest of the staff for the past months. Not that he would deny the necessity of exercising cautious restraint in all regards, he mused as his eyes travelled briefly back to Jimmy walking up ahead.

'So what were you thinking?' Said Thomas.

'Another bonding activity, of sorts.' Branson replied with a slightly nervous laugh. With a toss of his head he indicated towards Alfred and Jimmy, but as Thomas followed his gaze his eyes came to rest on the large ornamental pond just visible beyond.

'Oh no…' Thomas laughed. 'I'd forgot about that.'

'That was a while ago now, wasn't it?' Branson smiled to himself at the memory. 'The hall-boys didn't take much persuading, but I can't quite believe we managed to get you in.'

'An event which won't be repeated I can tell you!' Thomas smirked, but the glance he cast sideways to Branson was a warm one as the oddly happy memory temporarily melted his current disapproval of Branson's existence.

'Of course, it was a foolish idea.' Said Branson, raising a hand to awkwardly scratch at the side of his nose. He sighed deeply to himself, noting with surprise that Thomas's eyes were still on him, wearing an expression of concern. 'It's just…Now that I think of it, that was one of the few times I found enjoyment here that didn't revolve around…' Branson's voice trailed off.

'Oh bloody hell.' Thomas muttered under his breath. He lightly nudged Branson's shoulder with his own. 'Go on then.'

The answering smile was all encompassing in it's merriment and Thomas found himself returning it with a gusto.

'Oi!' Branson called up ahead to Jimmy and Alfred. They turned back with quizzical expressions. 'Come on…' Said Branson pushing past them, with Thomas in tow, to lead the way to the water. 'We're going swimming!' He announced over his shoulder.

'You what?' Demanded Jimmy, but his words were drowned out by Alfred's enthusiastic response. 'Can we really, Mr Branson?'

'Well I wouldn't tell Mr Carson…but otherwise, why not? And it's 'Tom'.' Branson responded, holding his arms out to keep balanced as he ran down the slope at the edge of the footpath.

Alfred couldn't help but blink in surprise at the sight of Thomas abandoning his usual composure as he did the same, following Branson down the slope. He cast a glance at Jimmy, who gave a disdainful frown and shrug in response.

'You coming then?' Said Alfred, alternating his gaze between the pond that sparkled in the sunlight up ahead and the sullen man at his side.

'Why are you so eager?' Said Jimmy flatly.

Alfred looked back at the pond. In their eagerness to approach the water Branson and Thomas had managed to slip over on the muddy bank, which would have ordinarily been a disaster as far as their clothing was concerned but following the earlier tug-of-war the situation was already quite dire, and thus they were both laying there in fits of laughter that carried on the light breeze up to where Alfred stood.

'He's not even paying you any attention!' Alfred whispered to Jimmy.

Jimmy riled. 'I wasn't thinking about….' He blurted out before stopping himself.

'Well I'm going in. Stay here and sulk if it suits you.' Said Alfred, making his way down the slope to join Thomas and Branson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Skinny Dip – Chapter 2**

For the second time that day, Branson dragged himself to his feet before offering Thomas a hand to help him do the same. They skipped the hug this time, instead exchanging a final grin before shrugging out of their jackets and turning away from one another to each claim a nearby bush for an impromptu clothes horse.

Glancing over his shoulder, Branson saw Alfred moving to join them.

He offered him a bright smile before calling up to Jimmy, who still stood awkwardly on the path; hands thrust in his pockets.

'Are you not coming James?'

Jimmy's jaw twitched as he debated the notion of joining them at the bank weighed against the equally unattractive notion of voluntarily excluding himself and returning to the house alone.

Down by the water's edge, Thomas resolved to stay well out of it. Feeling a slight chill in the shade of the bushes he doubled his efforts to get his clothes off quickly to hasten his re-emergence into the sun, having temporarily forgotten in his merriment that the ultimate point of the exercise was to plunge into (what would most likely be) freezing cold water.

'What are you afraid of?' Branson called up to Jimmy in light-hearted jest.

Behind him Alfred and Thomas exchanged a poignant look; Thomas's face briefly full of regret and apology, while Alfred's carried a hint of reproach but was not completely devoid of sympathy.

Jimmy noted the exchange between Alfred and Thomas with discomfort, but began to gingerly pick his way down the slope to join them at the bank.

Alfred shot Jimmy a relieved and reassuring smile as he approached.

'Another activity that doesn't seem to suit you, Mr Barrow.' Said Jimmy scathingly as he reached them.

The smile on Alfred's face vanished abruptly.

Thomas rolled his eyes, not bothering to dignify the dig with a response. He turned his back on Jimmy and continued to undress.

Jimmy was momentarily transfixed at the amount of skin exposed as Thomas wrenched his undershirt off over his head.

'Have I missed something?' Branson whispered to Alfred, glancing pointedly towards Jimmy.

'Trust me…' Said Alfred as he hung his jacket on the bush next to Branson's. '…You're better off not knowing.'

Branson raised his eyebrows but consented to let the matter drop.

'Not going in like that, are you?' He said, looking back over his shoulder at Jimmy who was still fully clothed save for the cap that he now held in his hands.

'In a minute.' Jimmy responded quietly, twisting his cap between his hands and quickly diverting his eyes as Branson slipped out of his trousers.

'OH BLOODY…!'

Branson and Thomas burst into peals of laughter as Alfred keeled over while trying to remove a shoe one-handed.

'Oh give over, you sods!' Alfred grinned from his new vantage point on the floor, throwing the show in the vague direction of Branson. The shoe missed by a good few feet, despite Branson only _being _a few feet away at the time, which set off another round of giggles that even Jimmy couldn't resist indulging in.

The laughter died in his throat as the sight of a now fully naked Thomas passed by his peripheral vision.

Jimmy quickly directed his gaze towards the muddy earth underfoot as the sound of gentle waves heralded Thomas's slow entry into the water as he waded in from the side of the bank.

Branson, still shaking slightly with the after effects of laughter, gave a shout of protest at Thomas having technically beaten him into the water.

Not to be completely outdone, he quickly ran over to the small wooden jetty that protruded out into the pond and launched himself inelegantly into the water. The resulting splash engulfed Thomas, who had only made it in up to his thighs, and he shouted in indignation and pleasure as the icy droplets of water gave a sharp contrast to the caresses of the sunlight on his skin.

The unexpected shower of cold water gave Thomas the impetus he needed to fully immerse himself. He allowed himself to fall forwards to finally force his torso under the water.

Yelling out theatrically and obscenely at the temperature of the water, he began to swim over to Branson.

Having finally extracted himself from the floor (and his clothes), and having gotten over the resulting head-rush from standing up too quickly, Alfred followed Branson's footsteps and walked onto the small wooden platform at the pond-side. He paused there for a while.

'You alright?' Called Thomas.

'Yes…just thinking about trying something.'

Branson and Thomas exchanged quizzical looks, turning their gaze back towards Alfred just in time to see him swing himself off the jetty to enter the water with a shallow-dive. A surprisingly well executed shallow-dive.

'Wow!' Branson exclaimed, sharing an astonished look with Thomas as they both swam over to join Alfred as he re-surfaced.

'Where did that come from?' Said Thomas once Alfred finished his initial writhing at the cool temperature of the water.

'There weren't much to do at the old Hotel besides sea-bathing and walking.' Alfred said, raising his shoulders temporarily out of the water to shrug.

'Bloody brilliant!' Said Thomas.

Alfred beamed at him.

'Knew it would only be a matter of time 'til we found _something_ you were good at…' Thomas continued with a devilish grin.

'Ha!' Alfred launched a miniature tidal wave of water at Thomas's face, kick starting a vigorous exchange of splashes and temporarily reducing Branson to hysterics once again.

Smirking in amusement as he retreated a small distance away to get out of the war-zone, Branson noticed Jimmy still on the bank.

He had stripped to the waist but showed no sign of continuing, and was stood watching the exchange between Thomas and Alfred with a look that strongly indicated he suspected his eyes of deceiving him.

'Come on James! The water's lovely!' He called.

Jimmy frowned at the memory of Thomas's shouts as he had submerged himself for the first time.

'Liar!' Jimmy called back.

Branson let out a laugh. 'You have me there.' He conceded. 'But you ought to join us regardless!'

Reluctantly Jimmy turned slightly away from the pond and brought his hands to his trouser buttons. He glanced back over his shoulder, noting with relief that Branson had temporarily turned his attention back to Thomas and Alfred, before continuing.

Once divested of his garments, Jimmy tiptoed through the matted grass and mud to approach the water. He wrinkled his nose at the feel of the damp ground under his feet.

Bending down to test the water with his fingers, he screwed his face up further at the freezing temperature.

The sound of splashing up ahead drew his eyes to the three men engaged in an intense water-fight.

He seriously debated turning round, grabbing his clothes, and making a run for it back to the house.

As it was, he realised that the attention of the others would only be elsewhere for so long and thus began to wade quickly into the water, shielding himself with his hands. The temperature of the water was temporarily forgotten in his eagerness to get under it's cloaking influence.

Thankfully the moment when Branson turned back towards him coincided with his judging the water deep enough to properly submerge himself. He quickly bent his knees, vanishing up to his shoulders.

'Bollocks!' He shouted at the heart-stoppingly low temperature of the water.

'Welcome to the fold!' Announced Branson in a grand manner.

Jimmy responded with a highly unconvincing smile, dragging himself deeper into the water.

Alfred swam over to him and gave him a quick slap on the shoulder, off balancing Jimmy to the degree that he accidently took in a mouthful of silty water. 'Good to have you with us!' He said brightly. 'Suppose the ladies were to walk by now, eh?' He continued with a grin.

Jimmy gave another wobbly smile.

Branson flicked some water in his direction.

As he opened his mouth to protest, Jimmy took in another unwanted swallow of water. He struggled to spit it out, groaning at the rank taste. His face felt hot as both Alfred and Branson clapped him on the back, laughing vigorously.

Thomas regarded him with a look of concern from a respectable distance away.

'Want to go to the other side and back?' Said Alfred eagerly, eyeing the far bank.

Thomas followed his gaze and smiled in approval.

'Race?' Responded Branson, throwing himself into a speedy front-crawl without waiting for an answer.

Alfred shouted in protest and took off after him.

Shaking his head in amusement, Thomas slid himself forwards in the water to follow them at a more leisurely pace.

After only a couple of strokes he stopped abruptly to look back at Jimmy.

Jimmy hadn't moved, his dripping face the picture of discomfort.

'Everything alright?' He said reluctantly over his shoulder.

Jimmy shot him a dark look, but couldn't quite pull off 'threatening' under the circumstances.

Thomas remained where he was, staring back at him, communicating the sentiment that he wasn't moving until Jimmy began to do the same with a slight raise of his eyebrow.

Jimmy grunted in frustration, staring daggers back at Thomas.

'I can't.' Jimmy eventually choked out.

'Cant…?' Thomas took in the way Jimmy's arms were frantically scrambling to keep his head above the water line.

'You can't swim, can you?'

Jimmy riled indignantly and attempted to struggle further into the depths of the pond towards Thomas, but was forced to concede defeat.

'No…' Jimmy finally admitted, attempting to shake his head and ending up gargling on more pond water.

'Then why did you get in here in the first place?' Thomas said, instinctively moving towards him in case Jimmy's head actually did disappear below water.

Jimmy didn't reply, but Thomas noted his eyes shift towards Alfred and Branson, who had stopped swimming part way across the pond and were currently staring back at the two of them, beckoning them over.

Thomas sighed in frustration.

'Is there nothing you won't do for the sake of your pride?' He hissed quietly at him before clearing his throat to call over to the others. 'You go on ahead; Jimmy and I are a bit knackered!' Thomas rapidly dropped the volume of his voice again. 'Now get back to the shallows before you bloody drown!' He whispered to Jimmy, who for the briefest moment shot him a look of genuine gratitude.

Ever so slowly, they moved back towards the shore.

Even amid his struggles, Jimmy kept shooting wary glances over at Thomas. In response Thomas made a point of maintaining a slightly overly-exaggerated distance between the two of them.

'Can you touch the bottom now?' He said as Jimmy came to a halt. As he spoke, Thomas endeavored to tread water himself (despite the shallower depth) to get some much needed exercise as he watched the wake left by Alfred and Branson jealously out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to the opposite side of the pond.

'Yes…but it's slimy!' Jimmy's head bobbed up and down, barely above the water, as he attempted to minimise contact with the floor by hopping.

'Just get out if you're that uncomfortable. No one's forcing you to be in here.' Said Thomas, feeling his patience ebbing away as he stared wistfully across the inviting open water.

'No, I'm fine here. 'Jimmy coughed as he accidently took in another mouthful of water.

'For God's sake, move closer to the shore!' Thomas said, fighting the urge to move in and physically drag him to the shallows himself.

Jimmy hesitated.

'What is it?' Said Thomas in exasperation.

Again he was forced to read the answer in Jimmy's eyes rather than his words as Jimmy gave an involuntary glance down at himself.

Thomas leaned his head back in frustration, his emotions caught somewhere between anger and shame.

He took a moment to savor the cooling effect of the water as it tickled his scalp before righting himself again.

'I _won't _look at you.' He asserted, avoiding Jimmy's gaze entirely.

'It's not just…' Jimmy sighed, moving ever so slightly shorewards to allow himself to speak without spluttering on pond water. 'It's not just you.' He offered, grimacing a little at Thomas's distressed expression. 'I don't like anybody looking at me…but people always sodding do, because I'm…'

Thomas had to work very hard to avoid finishing the sentence for him.

'…pretty.' Jimmy eventually concluded, furrowing his brow in distaste for the word, clearly recalling a time when it had been uncomfortably applied.

Thomas bit his lip. 'Yes, I can imagine that getting tiresome.' He said quietly before breaking into a nervous laugh to cut through the rising discomfort. 'You just go and get out…I'll be off to join those two miscreants over there. Alright?'

Jimmy gave a weak smile.

Immediately Thomas spun himself around in the water and began to strike out from the bank, resisting the urge to look back despite the aforementioned urge being entirely based round Jimmy's safety as opposed to something more sinister. He was sure that he would hear if Jimmy got into…

His heart leapt into his throat as the sound of an agonised scream rang out behind him.

'What the…?' He turned swiftly to see Jimmy flailing in the water behind him.

Alternating between screams and gargles as he repeatedly lost his balance, Jimmy's arms windmilled wildly in the water in an attempt to keep himself upright.

'Jimmy, what's happened?' Thomas called.

There was no response aside from strangled sobs and splashing water.

Thomas silently cursed the heavens. He glanced over at the distant figures of Alfred and Branson to establish that they had also heard the screaming and were consequently on their way back over.

With a groan Thomas quickly swam back towards Jimmy's thrashing figure.

'What…?' Thomas ducked out of the way of Jimmy's swinging arm. 'Jimmy what…?' Jimmy's arm actually connected with the side of his head that time. Thomas let out a brief grunt of pain before taking hold of Jimmy's arm, doing his best to immobilise him.

'WHAT THE HELL'S HAPPENED?' He shouted directly into Jimmy's face.

Jimmy finally stilled.

'It's my foot. Something's got my foot.' He shouted, his breath shallow and panicked.

Thomas's eyes widened momentarily as he looked down into the muddy water, an entirely useless endeavor given the clouds of silt that Jimmy's struggles had kicked up.

'It's nothing alive is it?' He asked nervously, reassuring himself that no carnivorous creatures existed within the civilised environment of Downton pond…but suffering the irrational fear of all people when confronted with a large body of water; that one could never quite be one hundred percent sure what lurked in the depths.

'No I…I don't think so.' Jimmy gasped out. 'But I'm stuck and it hurts.'

'What if I just pull you away?' Thomas said, tightening his grip on Jimmy's arm.

'No, there's something stuck IN my foot and that's why I'M stuck, you idiot!' Jimmy shouted back.

Thomas released his hold on Jimmy. 'I'm just trying to help, you ungrateful little…'

'What's going on?' Branson came to a halt beside them.

'Princess here has got his foot stuck on something.' Said Thomas darkly before Jimmy had time to respond.

'Well that's an easy one.' Said Alfred as he joined them. 'You take his other arm…' He said to Branson as he took hold of the nearest one. '..then pull on the count of three.'

'No, no, no, no, no!' Jimmy shouted frantically as Branson proceeded to follow Alfred's instruction.

They all stopped moving.

Caught somewhere between intense pain at the unknown implement digging into his foot, and even more intense embarrassment at being surrounded by the others while naked (albeit under water) and crying, Jimmy shivered uselessly in the grip of Alfred and Branson and stared down at the water.

Thomas regarded the three of them carefully before paddling back over to them.

He gave a deep and resigned sigh.

'Keep him steady.' He said, glancing briefly between Alfred and Branson before ducking under water.

'What! NO!' Jimmy shouted (entirely in vain) and struggled in their grip.

Thomas didn't bother to open his eyes as his hands easily found the silky mud at the base of the pond, he could feel the disturbance in the water caused by Jimmy's free leg flailing about and didn't fancy an eyeful of mud particles even if it did prove possible to see underwater.

Taking the moving leg as a guide, Thomas established that the problem was with Jimmy's right foot. He felt gingerly through the mud and pond-weed to locate it. The breath he held in was just about ready to escape at the point where his fingers finally brushed against something that could be skin, before coming to settle on the perplexing item it was pinned against.

It felt like a curved strip of metal.

Carefully running his hand along the strip, wary of the sharpness of the edges, he established that there were some screws spaced at regular intervals along it.

As he worked his way round the odd metal contraption, the side of his thumb again found the flesh of Jimmy's foot.

Jimmy kicked out violently with his other leg, catching Thomas's shoulder as much by chance as by design.

Thomas was forced to let out the breath he was holding, cease his exploration of the pond floor, and quickly scramble to resurface.

He gasped for breath as he broke through the surface of the water,

'Well…?' Said Alfred, his brow furrowed in concern. On the other side of Jimmy, Branson mirrored his anxious expression.

Taking in their distress, Thomas surmised that Jimmy had most likely been screaming blue murder the entire time.

Ignoring Alfred for the moment, Thomas grasped Jimmy's chin to force eye contact.

'I've found what you're caught on. I'll get you lose. If you calm down and STOP bloody MOVING!' He shouted. 'Have you got that?'

Jimmy's chin trembled under his grip, but he managed a small nod.

'Keep it up, you two.' Said Thomas to Alfred and Branson as he ducked below the water again.

Silently appologising to Jimmy in his head, Thomas ran his hand gently down the side of Jimmy's right leg as he sank to the pond floor to allow him to locate the wounded foot more speedily. He was surprised to note that Jimmy remained largely still, barely responding to the touch, even as he began to explore the wound itself.

It appeared that not only had Jimmy's foot had gotten trapped under the metal band, but that he had actually manage to impale himself one of the screws sticking through it. Thomas felt a slight twinge of sympathy, realising that Jimmy was actually in some genuine and (most likely) intense pain at having a bit of rusty metal sticking at least an inch into the top of his foot.

Despite a slight decrease in his frustration towards Jimmy, Thomas was nevertheless intensely glad that he no longer had to fear being kicked in the stomach.

Unknown to Thomas, the reason that Jimmy had stopped flailing was for reasons entirely outside of the telling off that Thomas had given him.

Almost as soon as Thomas had disappeared below the water, a voice that was highly disgruntled, and very familiar, had drawn the attention of Alfred, Jimmy and Branson from the bank.

'What on earth do you think you're doing!?' Carson called sternly, staring in astonishment at the sight of the men in the water; more specifically a naked shouldered Jimmy being propped up by the equally naked Alfred and Branson.

'I could ask you the same thing!' Branson called back with a sudden bite of anger that shocked both Alfred and Jimmy out of their initial discomfort at Carson's sudden appearance.

Carson sheepishly tightened his grip on the little girl he carried in his arms.

'Well, you were all away and….I….I thought she might like to see the rose garden, Mr Branson.' Said Carson gruffly, gently jiggling baby Sybil as she gave a small noise of annoyance at being suddenly ignored.

Branson's expression softened.

'I'm sure she would like that, Mr Carson.' He said in a gentle voice.

The two men exchanged a meaningful look, the situation at hand temporarily forgotten.

The moment was broken almost immediately.

Carson's eyes very nearly ejected themselves from his head at the sight of Thomas unexpectedly popping out of the water in front of Jimmy.

'You've taken it in quite deep, so it's no worry it's hurting. But if you trust me I think I can…' Thomas stopped, realising the eyes of Jimmy, Alfred and Branson were all fixed on something over his shoulder.

He turned slowly.

He winced internally.

Then he laughed internally.

Then he slowly vocalised the only appropriate words his brain was able to provide under the circumstances.

'Hello…Mr Carson.'

'Mr Barrow!' Carson exclaimed, scanning the faces of the other three men in search of explanation.

No explanation was forthcoming, and it was instantly apparent that Branson in particular (as, arguably, the most worldly of rest of the group) was desperately suppressing the urge to laugh, along with Thomas, having followed Carson's thought process.

Carson shifted uncomfortably, turning a little to avert baby Sybil's eyes.

'Just tell me this…' He said in measured tones. '...Am I to expect a visit from the Police as a result of whatever is occurring here?'

'No, Mr Carson.' The four men said in unison, Jimmy's voice decidedly weak in comparison to the others.

'Right.' Said Carson, looking intensely traumatised, before turning to walk away with very rapid steps.

Shaking his head in disbelief at the situation, Thomas gave Jimmy an apologetic look before ducking under the water again.

As he pushed firmly to free Jimmy's foot, Thomas gave silent thanks for the several feet of water above him that were no doubt protecting him from an intense scream; if the distressed tensing of Jimmy's calf muscle was anything to go by.

The task completed, Thomas swam ahead and exited the pond as Branson and Alfred maneuvered Jimmy slowly out of the water behind him.

'Sit him on the jetty.' Thomas called over his shoulder as he retrieved his own shirt and Jimmy's from the tangle of clothes strewn on the nearby bushes.

'Here you go.' Thomas swung Jimmy's shirt around his shoulders, holding it so that he could get his arms through. Jimmy clasped it shut at his middle, shivering in the barely perceptible breeze. Droplets of water dripped off his hair as he hunched forwards. Branson and Alfred stood awkwardly by.

'You two, start getting your kecks on.' Said Thomas as he crouched down on the floor in front of Jimmy, eyeing the nasty cavity left by the nail and the rivulets of blood grimly. 'We'll have to carry him back and call the doctor.'

'Oh my lord…' Said Alfred, looking down at the wound for the first time.

'Can't you fix it?' Said Branson. 'Mr Carson's going to throw a fit as it is.'

'Might get infected, got to do this one properly.' Said Thomas, shaking his head. He briefly gripped the collar of his own shirt with his teeth to enable him to maneuver his hands to exert enough force to rip the fabric. The others stared as Thomas repeated the action several times.

'Get on, you two!' Thomas ordered Alfred and Branson, who finally broke out of their reveries to go and retrieve their respective clothes and drag them on uncomfortably over their wet bodies.

'Rest it here.' Said Thomas gently to Jimmy, raising his knee to prop up Jimmy's injured foot before proceeding to bandage round it with the strips of fabric.

Jimmy watched him in silence as Thomas occupied himself completely with the task at hand.

As he tucked in the last spare end of fabric Thomas paused for a moment, his hand still lightly holding Jimmy's ankle, overtaken by a powerful urge to look upwards.

'Thank you.' Jimmy suddenly whispered.

Thomas cast his eyes upwards with a small smile to meet Jimmy's gaze.

Jimmy returned his smile with as much enthusiasm as the throbbing in his foot would allow, grappling with the awkward certainty that he would never be able to quite forget the image of Thomas kneeling naked in the mud, completely devoid of his usual aloofness, looking genuinely happy.

'That's done!' Thomas suddenly announced, gently slipping Jimmy's foot off his knee.

He quickly gathered up Jimmy's remaining clothes and dropped them in a pile next to him.

'Give him a hand will you?' Thomas said to Alfred, who had already managed to dress fully, before finally turning to the matter of his own clothes.

A few minutes later the four of them began to slowly make their way over to the house.

Jimmy hopped most of the way, sandwiched between Alfred and Branson, having refused to be carried fully.

Thomas walked beside them bare-chested, having not bothered to replace his undershirt, jacket or waistcoat (which he held draped over his arm), although he had taken a moment to perch his hat back on his wet hair, reasoning that if it could survive contact with pomade it could survive pond water.

As their luck would have it, the others had made it back to Downton a short while before they did, so their progress down the corridor past the servant's hall was temporarily halted by gasps and exclamations of surprise from the occupants therein.

The four men briefly exchanged pained glances before collapsing, once again, into uncontrollable giggles.

'Ladies!' Thomas tipped his hat with a flourish, unable to decide if he found the reactions of Mrs Hughes and Mrs Patmore more or less amusing than the reactions of Daisy and Ivy, before turning to lead the others up the stairs.

**NOTE – Ten points for anyone who twigged what Jimmy caught his foot on.**

**(….I couldn't find a way to explain Bates's leg-extender in the text!)**

**A tongue-in-cheek sequel, 'It Escalated', is in progress here on FF.**


End file.
